SIGNS IN THE HEAVENS: Strange flash 100 times brighter than a supernova growing at incredible rate baffling scientists
SIGNS IN THE HEAVENS: Strange flash 100 times brighter than a supernova growing at incredible rate baffling scientists
A massive explosion spotted 200 million light years from Earth has
baffled astronomers. The strange spot, nicknamed ‘the cow’, is up to
100 times brighter than a supernova and is growing at an incredible
rate. Scientists say the flash is a 9,000°C (16,000°F) cloud of
high-energy particles bursting outwards at 12,000 miles (20,000km) per
second, but are still unsure what triggered the brilliant blast. One researcher said ‘there hasn’t really been another object like this.’
The explosion was captured on by the asteroid-tracking ATLAS telescopes
at the Keck Observatory, which sits atop Mauna Kea, a dormant volcano
in Hawaii. Astronomers noted the flash was unusually luminous – between
10 and 100 times brighter than the average supernova – but it was the
speed of its appearance that really caught the eye of space experts. READ MORE
